Novice and experienced managers, coaches and teachers, and anyone else who wants to influence other peoples' behavior or performance will benefit from Ferdinand F. Fournies' book on coaching. He describes specific intervention tactics and shows how to apply them. Use this manual to eliminate managerial frustration. It can be your stepping stone to creating a successful, high-performing department. Fournies' concepts can help even seasoned managers deal with difficult staff, solve problems in their departments and achieve greater results through their employees. If you are a new manager or wish to be one, this essential resource and training tool is required reading. We also recommend it as a strong addition to any management curriculum.

Managers frequently find themselves spending most of their time dealing with their "high-maintenance" employees (the old 80-20 rule) and not enough time doing what they feel is their most important work.

I purchased the first edition of this book years ago to make the most of that fact of life. It was a transforming moment.

Dr. Fournies' approach is both logical and compelling. It caused me to rethink -- and quickly abandon -- my previous approaches to management (and my presumptuous motivational expertise, and my increasing tendency to communicate vaguely).

In its place I began dealing with specific behaviors that I could identify and address, and I found myself using a lot of the author's techniques to make my thoughts come out of their mouths.

And this is not ivory tower, business school advice. Starting with the basics ("Management is the intervention of getting things done through others... You get paid for what your employees do, not for what you do."), he then develops a step-by-step methodology that enables you to effectively change employee behavior.

A previous reviewer made the point that this is not a book on "coaching," per se. It is more than that -- it is an approach to managing people that is efficient and fair.

And it works. I have been using these principles for a long time, and I go back to this book at least once a year for a refresher. I will continue to do so.

If you are responsible for the day-to-day supervision or management of human resources in your company this book is a must. This book will help you deal with your employees performance and redirect their behavior in ways not taught in a traditional classroom setting. This book, from a legal and humane perspective, outlines the perfect way to manage a group of people, shedding the need to deal with attitudes or personalities and dealing with the behavior-based performance issues that result in measurable improvement. Your employees and your company will greatly appreciate the techniques outlined in this book, and it will keep you out of trouble at the same time. If you are in management of people, this is the most important book you can ever read. More important than any other single managerial aspect, redirecting people's behavior through coaching is your prime respponsibility. You get paid for what your people do, they are your scorecard. You do not have to be an expert in whatever aspect of the business you are engaged, you must get things done through others and help them be successful. Your people are your experts, and when they fail, you fail. This book should be required reading in every college management program, simply because this book encompasses the real nature of what managers will be getting paid to do for the remainder of their careers. Buy it. You won't be sorry.

As a consultant for small companies, I have found using Ferdinand F. Forunies' book,"Coaching for Improved Performance" an outstanding success. It has been very well accepted and an easy read for "Leads". The Coaching Analysis prepares them to then know when to use the Coaching discussion. New people to the supervision field come not knowing what to do. After reading the book and seeing the "Face to Face" video are ready to be trained in working with their employees for improved performance. I have not found any material that comes close to this material as a training vechical. I have used this material for over 15 years.

No No No. I have read these reviews and read the book. It's very important to make this distinction clear. If you are a coaching professional or interested in becoming a personal or business coach DO NOT get this book. In this book "coaching" is just another word for "managing." If you are truly interested in learning how to work with someone on THEIR agenda (vs. imposing yours or the company's on to them) and if you are truly interested in helping people achieve progress in areas they want to develop then go to another book (i.e. Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others by Flaherty). To Fournies defense, he wrote this book before the modern coaching movement (i.e. CoachU, ICF, etc) took hold. But, books tend to stay around and his definition of coaching pollutes the desired meaning of modern coaching professionals.

However, if you are a manager in a traditional hiearchy and you are looking for "tricks" and "techniques" then maybe this book is for you--but I can think of MANY better books for being an effective manager.